With only four days to go before the Iowa GOP caucuses, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney continues to move into a small lead as new public polls surface. An NBC/Marist poll out Friday shows Romney in the lead with 23 percent, locked in a battle with Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) who sees 21 percent support. Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who has moved up in the race over the last week, gets 15 percent and is locked in a battle for third with Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who sees 14 percent, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich with 13.
Although just 7 percent of likely Iowa caucus-goers believe that Romney is the true conservative in the GOP field, he has two variables working in his favor, according to the poll. One, only 21 percent of likely caucus-goers say he’s unacceptable as the Republican nominee (compared with 35 percent for Gingrich and 41 percent for Paul). And two, the conservative vote appears to be splintering between the various candidates, and are no longer coalescing around a single Romney challenger.
